Week 8 discussion

Running head: MARKETING PLAN 1

MARKETING PLAN2

Developing Marketing Strategies

Johnell Davis

Dr. Amans

MKT 500

February 13, 2022

Question I

The information contained in part A provides comprehensive data on what Boma Health Solutions has endeavoured to achieve since its creation in 2002. As a business organization in the healthcare industry specializing in the manufacture and supply of medical equipment, its plan for service provision to its customers and profit-making is on the right track. The company's readiness to utilize meaningful innovation, as stated in its mission statement, places it in a unique position to make use of the current technology to come up with improved and efficient healthcare equipment that make the lives of its customers easier (Khosravizadeh et al., 2021 p.959). This is more so for patients living with terminal illnesses such as cancer and diabetes and even patients with deafness who require hearing aids. Further, as part of two billion lives the company wishes to improve by 2027, the company should look to extend its products to marginalized groups and those living in remote and inaccessible and have a hard time gaining access to adequate medical care.

Part of the success journey of any organization is conducting a SWAT analysis of its organization so that it can have a clear picture of where it has come from and how far it is going. An organization can only take care of its weaknesses and threats after identifying them. Thus, thanks to the SWOT analysis conducted in part A, it's clear that its quest to offer reliable and affordable services plus prioritizing customer satisfaction has played a vital role in its success. The company's marketing plan will entail maximizing its opportunities by expanding its markets to online platforms that are the current trends earning companies’ significant revenues and saving them costs in marketing and advertisement.

Question II

An effective branding strategy for the Boma health solutions entails using Boma, a Swahili word meaning homestead. In most African countries, people in the rural areas live in secluded homesteads in separate huts for the parents, daughters, sons and workers. All these members are headed by the head of the family, mostly the father, making up what is known as a boma. Although the contemporary structure of families and primarily those in urban areas no longer adhere to the living arrangement, most can associate with it. Thus, the branding strategy would predominantly focus on families and primarily those in lower-income households to show that they care for their health as a family and therefore manufacture health equipment suitable for their needs and at affordable prices. More focus will be geared towards the sick and elderly who mostly live in the bomas in rural areas and barely have the strength to take care of themselves nor the resources to access quality medical care.

The strategy would be part of the company's slogan, which is to improve the well-being and health of individuals through meaningful innovation. Their innovation would benefit those groups and individuals in the society in dire need of help. The group at the top of the pyramid is the elderly living with chronic illnesses. Further, the organization could partner with the government to develop a way that their customers could use their universal health insurance, such as the Obama care to pay for the products. That way, they do not have to feel the financial strain of purchasing the products. Any product or service focused on the families in the community focuses on the economy as they equip these families to be better builders of the economy.

Question III

As put forward in part one, one of the company's primary markets is the underserved communities that include African-American communities and people living with chronic illnesses such as hypertension and diabetes, who are mostly the elderly. The other underserved group comprises persons with disabilities who mostly rely on medical equipment such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, walking sticks and even brail machines that the blind use in learning institutions. The other primary market includes clinicians who need the right tools to make accurate diagnoses and treat their patients. The organization is well-positioned to use technology to develop innovative equipment to make the lives of these groups better. A good example is electric wheelchairs that one can use to navigate easily; they need not push it and would not require another person's aid.

The organization's target market is thus diverse in the demographic profile—from the elderly, mostly living with chronic illnesses, to persons with disabilities who are of all ages, gender and even race. Even African-Americans who fall under people of color comprise a wide range of gender and age. Thus, the demographic profile is relatively large. However, when it comes to geographic profile, the primary market in Chicago and its surroundings is where the company is based. However, Suppose the company goes ahead and expands its operations to the online market. In that case, it can serve a more comprehensive market extending to other continents such as Europe, Asia and even Africa (Farsi, 2021). With the online market, even serving the entire planet is possible. However, the primary market is underserved communities and clinicians, while the secondary market involves any other group, institution or individual in need of medical equipment.

Question IV

Comparing the position of Boma Health Solution against that of its competitors, one can say that they have an advantage. With the contemporary world being ruled by information and technology, any organization that wishes to survive and thrive in the market has to be innovative and thus entails using technology. World issues such as climate change are forcing organizations to develop eco-friendly products, which means being resourceful; the fact that Boma already makes use of meaningful innovation in its operation places them at an advantage.

Further, its emphasis on ensuring customer satisfaction through providing quality and affordable products gives them a competitive advantage (Cham et al., 2020). Most organizations thriving in the market today are tied to how well customers are satisfied with their products and services. It's never really about putting the goal of revenue and profit-making ahead, but letting the quality of services and customer satisfaction continue to earn good revenues and thus result in growth and expansion. In the same way, the company can offer quality healthcare equipment to their customers by ensuring each of their needs is catered for, giving it an upper hand over its competitors. Also, its emphasis on upholding integrity and accountability above all in its operations conforms to how dedicated they are to their products and clients.

Question V

The band name, Boma, which, as previously stated, is a Swahili word meaning homestead and its slogan that aims to improve the well-being and health of individuals through meaningful innovation, is why the organization is fit to work with the underserved communities. The primary challenge for these groups is access to quality services due to their financial positions or the discrimination they face in society. Thus, most people in these societies live in poor conditions and untreated chronic medical conditions since they lack the means to get the care they need. The means can be either financial resources, support from their communities and government or companies such as Boma that provide quality and affordable products and services that benefit them.

Thus, through Boma's quality and affordable services that use meaningful innovation, many underserved communities and patients stand to benefit. For clinicians, advanced equipment that can manage severe illnesses would make attending to their patients easier and help them avoid errors that could put the lives of patients at risk.

Moreover, its products meant to aid patients' in-home care and recovery would considerably come in handy during trying times like during the pandemic that has seen many patients in the underserved communities suffer since the pandemic could not allow them physical visits to health centres. With inpatient care supported by services from Boma, patients would be saved the time and money consumed making regular visits to healthcare facilities.

References

Cham, T. H., Cheng, B. L., Low, M. P., & Cheok, J. B. C. (2020). Brand Image as the competitive edge for Hospitals in Medical Tourism. European Business Review.

Farsi, D. (2021). Social media and health care, Part I: a literature review of social media use by health care providers. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 23(4), e23205.

Khosravizadeh, O., Vatankhah, S., Baghian, N., Shahsavari, S., Ghaemmohamadi, M. S., & Ahadinezhad, B. (2021). The branding process for healthcare centres: Operational strategies from consumer's identification to market development. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 14(4), 956-964.